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There’s a lot of distrust in this country and it’s affecting our fundamentals
New Ambassador of Cuba to Guyana, Mr. Narciso Reinaldo Armador Soeorro presenting his Letters of Credence to President David Granger in the presence of Minister of State, Mr. Joseph Harmon.
DEAR EDITOR,
For two years now, I have been running a startup business in Guyana. I was born and raised in the Netherlands. Both my parents were born in Suriname. After graduating from the University of Maastricht obtaining a Masters in International Business, I started to work in Sweden, UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands as an Employer Branding Consultant for fortune 100 companies – allowing me to travel a lot within the EU.
In 2009, I moved back to Suriname as I was hired as an expat for a new Telecom company. In 2012, I decided to stay in Suriname and start my own company named Suriname Cartridge Depot – specialized in the remanufacturing of laser toners.
When in 2016 an economic crisis hit Suriname, I decided to open up a foreign subsidiary. People were telling me to invest in French Guiana. I however believed that doing business within the CARICOM would be much easier. And having a grandfather from St. Lucia somehow attracted me to the English CARICOM culture.
First of all, I came to Guyana with the belief that Article 45 would be kind of similar to the situation I was used to in Europe. According to Article 45: Movement of Community Nationals, “Member States commit themselves to the goal of free movement of their nationals within the Community” This is not happening at all. And I believe that there are several reasons for it. And one of them is trust.
After being two years in Guyana, I have learned that compared to the Surinamese people, Guyanese people completely distrust each other. Just looking at the amount of times I need to stop on my way to Georgetown where I need to explain myself to Guyanese Law Enforcement and GRA officers.
A year ago I started helping a Suriname bird seed manufacturer by exporting premium bird seeds to Guyana. Every time I arrive at the Guyanese border I am controlled by quarantine and customs. And I am escorted to a warehouse called “the Bond”. And there, every single package is being inspected by the GRA. Every time. Even if I am the only person with cargo on the ship, I still need to go to “the Bond” and wait for hours. For nearly two years now nothing ever happened, but I am still not to be trusted. Until a couple of months ago, besides being controlled by port safety, quarantine, immigration and customs, Guyana introduced another controlling mechanism called CANU at Moleson Creek which stands for Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit – because probably as a nation they shouldn’t trust anybody and everybody is importing narcotics into the country. And this unit checks every single spot in your car. They check everything.
When I see CANU officers I, of course, laugh and wish them luck with finding any drugs in my car. Meanwhile, each and every passenger that enters Guyana undergoes a 100 percent check, leading to a very exhausting trip. So for me, Guyana doesn’t even consider the CARICOM article 45. Instead, they keep increasing the controlling mechanisms – taking away the free movement of nationals travelling inside and outside of the country. That is contradictory to the actual CARICOM goals. And I wonder if they respect having one of the founding fathers of the CARICOM.
I believe that Suriname and Guyana have the biggest challenge and can set an example because these two counties are the only nations with an actual landline border within the CARICOM. And it is important now that the leaders of these two beautiful and potentially rich countries start to integrate borders and streamline the operations.
I have observed travelers at the border for years now and people are frustrated. And this should not be like this under the promise made by the nations in 2001. I would have expected much more progress in these 17 years. What I only see is prestigious buildings and huge administrations costing tens of millions of dollars per year. Not resulting in anything.
I would advise the president of Guyana to have a check how convenient travelling into Guyana is compared to travelling into and out of Suriname. And that a common approach stimulating the idea of free movement of nationals is introduced. I believe that this will encourage cross border movement and boost the economy on the east side of Guyana and west side of Suriname. It will be a win-win. And if we think in terms of win-win, our nations will never fail, but succeed even bigger than we can dream of. And to achieve dreams together we need to start trusting each other.
One love,
Aristo Kelly MSc
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